At this point in time.
Once a bounty surpasses two billion, it's generally taken to mean the pirate can match a Marine Admiral in raw power.
Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Carlo, Rayleigh, Jabba, Redfield—every one of them is a Great Pirate whose bounty exceeds the two-billion mark.
The reason Whitebeard now suspects that the man whose bounty could overtake Roger's is Golden Lion.
is simply because Shiki, having seized most of the Rocks Pirates' assets and manpower, has become the largest pirate fleet in the New World.
His Flying Pirate Crew now commands more than fifty islands!
He has close to two hundred thousand pirates under his flag!
Over five hundred pirate ships!
In terms of men and territory, no one in the New World can compare with him right now.
These days people are already calling him the Sky-Flight Admiral.
That shows how explosively his power has swollen.
With Whitebeard staying out of the fray, Carlo yet to make a move, and Roger refusing to intervene,
no one in the entire New World can stand against him.
I hear Linlin has been driven into some corner of the New World.
You can see how arrogant and domineering Golden Lion has become.
That's exactly why Whitebeard thinks it might be Shiki whose bounty has overtaken Roger's.
Yet Roger only shook his head again.
"If not Shiki, then who?" Whitebeard blinked.
"Looks like you really haven't heard. I'm telling you, Newgate, you've got your own crew now—at least keep up with the news."
Roger hiccupped, and without waiting for another question he bellowed toward the pirates busy drinking.
"Hey! Bring yesterday's paper!"
"Coming right up, Captain Roger!"
A pirate soon came scampering over and handed the newspaper to Roger.
Grinning, Roger passed it to the curious Whitebeard.
"Take a look. The New World has been in an uproar these past few days. I bet Shiki won't be able to sit still much longer—whether he can keep all that territory he grabbed depends on what Carlo decides to do."
"Carlo?"
Whitebeard took the paper and looked.
In the firelight he saw, splashed across the front page, a huge photograph that took up half the sheet.
In the picture
a broad-shouldered white-haired man stood on the deck of a sailing pirate ship.
Behind him black clouds blotted the sky, lightning flashed, the sea roared and churned, and whirlwinds formed towering waterspouts—an apocalyptic scene.
Below that photo, on the lower half of the page, was another picture: a close-up of the same white-haired man.
His features were even clearer in this headshot.
What showed was a hard, angular, determined face.
Most striking of all were the man's black eyes—hawk-sharp, wolf-cold—filled with ambition and hunger.
It was a brand-new wanted poster!
Sorus Carlo
Dead or Alive
4,444,000,000 Berries
"Four billion four hundred forty-four million?"
Looking at the colossal figure,
Whitebeard wasn't exactly shocked.
He was merely surprised.
"What earth-shaking stunt has Carlo pulled now to make the World Government jack his bounty this high?"
"Keep reading. The guy almost killed Zephyr—right near Marineford, no less. Pretty impressive," Roger said with feeling.
"What?" Startled, Whitebeard flipped the page.
When he read the report of the battle off the Rulusia Kingdom, where Zephyr's fleet had clashed with Carlo's Sky Pirates, his expression changed.
"So Carlo's completely broken with the Marines."
"Break or no break, you know what he did at God Valley. Did you really think the World Government would let him off?
If they weren't trying to cover up what happened on that island, just for the number of Celestial Dragons he got killed his bounty could've hit ten billion!"
Roger said with a playful grin:
"What I'm more interested in is whether Carlo and Shiki will go at it when he gets back.
After all, you, the lone wolf, may not care about Rocks' legacy, but Carlo has a whole crew to feed.
Sky Pirates versus Flying Pirates—which one really rules the skies? I can't wait to see."
Whitebeard shot him a glance. "You just love stirring the pot."
"Hahaha, that's the fun of being a pirate. Come on, Newgate, let's go watch the show—it'll be hilarious!"
"Not interested."
"Come on!"
"No."
"Ah, come with me~"
"You're disgusting—get lost!"
Hachinosu.
Inside the towering Skull Mountain.
The former conference hall of the Rocks Pirates.
"Report, Admiral Shiki! Our scouts in Dressrosa say Heavenly King Carlo has returned to the New World!"
"He's back—so what? Stop yelling!"
Lounging in the main seat once occupied by Rocks, Golden Lion had his boots propped on a solid-gold table, puffing on the finest cigar, utterly relaxed.
Scantily clad beauties flanked him, giggling and fawning.
At the pirate's report he gave a cold snort.
"Just Carlo—does he think he's an ancient weapon? Heavenly King… hmph, he wishes."
"Keep an eye on him. If he stays out of my way I might, for old partnership's sake, leave his turf alone. If he's stupid enough to pick a fight—"
"I'll sink him and feed him to the fish!"
"This time there's no Rocks around to mediate for him!"
Murderous light flashed in Golden Lion's eyes.
A terrifying aura burst from him; the women trembled, collapsing to the floor, wetting it in fright.
"Yes, sir!" the pirate stammered, backing away.
Just then Golden Lion called after him.
"How's A Xiong doing? Hasn't he taken Linlin yet?"
"Silver Axe should finish soon. In the entire Big Mom Pirates only their Captain, Charlotte Linlin, is still holding out with a few Little Brats. It won't be long before we take the whole of Totto Land."
The underling answered respectfully.
Golden Lion smiled in satisfaction.
"Gahaha, excellent! Tell him to hurry! I'll throw the victory banquet here on Hachinosu and wait for him!"
New World
Totto Land archipelago
On Cake Island
Seeing the hundreds of pirate ships surrounding them until the sea itself was lost to sight, Linlin's face turned ashen.
Her expression shifted several times; finally, as if reaching a decision, she clenched her teeth and shouted to the tense Katakuri behind her:
"Katakuri! Contact Carlo right now! Tell him I'm calling in that favor—today!"